I have been writing for Forbes since 2005. Prior to that I covered the business beat for the New York Daily News. Because I've studied both finance and journalism, and because I like both numbers & analysis and sports, what's a more fun job than merging the two, writing about sports from the business side and from the stat geek/number crunching side? I have a BS in business from Boston College and a masters in business journalism from New York University.

Michael Pineda Needs To Get A Grip

Michael Pineda has been something of a mystery man during his entire, albeit brief, major league career. His recent bouts with pine tar just take things to the next level.

Signed as an amateur free agent by the Seattle Mariners as a 16-year-old out of the Dominican Republic in 2005, he eventually debuted for them in the majors in 2011. A big, hulking right handed power pitcher, Pineda lit up the league during the first half of his rookie year. Then came the sudden crash: a poor second half, a trade to the Yankees for hitting prospect Jesus Montero, reporting to his first Yankee camp out of shape, and two full seasons on the shelf with a bad shoulder.

Through it all, he was mostly out of sight and aloof, leaving everyone to wonder whether he would still become the next Curt Schilling or just fade away after a half-season in the limelight. Now, just as Pineda seemed to be getting it together, there’s this. Getting caught with some pine tar on your hand, as Pineda did a couple of starts ago, wasn’t such a big deal. At that point, he was no different from scores (hundreds?) of players who happened to get nabbed going for a little foreign substance advantage.

Michael Pineda (Photo credit: Keith Allison)

But after that minor dustup brought the issue into the spotlight, Pineda did it again in Boston last night. After starting the game cleanly, he suddenly showed up on the mound in the second inning with a slathering of the sticky stuff right on his neck, glistening in the lights for all to see. It was as if he wanted to get caught. Or, he really is that aloof. Pineda now faces a likely suspension, which leads to the question of why he would mess with his recent success after such a long road back.

It seems no one can explain it. Joe Girardi’s usual postgame round of clichés to the press fell even flatter than usual on this one, since none of them even addressed the core question of cheating (Girardi: “He was trying to compete…it’s a bump in the road…we’ll get past it…”).

But speaking of clichés, there’s an old one in baseball that may provide the answer. It goes to the heart of how serious the competition is at the major league level: “If you ain’t cheating, you ain’t trying.” In other words, a player ought to be vying for any competitive edge he can get, the thinking goes, legal or not. If you get caught you get caught, but you need to try. That approach runs counter to the nature of competitive sports, where the whole point, it seems, is that the satisfaction of winning comes from knowing you outdid your opponent fair and square. If the scoreboard declares you the winner but you know you cheated, can there be any real satisfaction?

The flip side, though, is that playing pro sports isn’t just about winning for its own sake. It’s also about money. Winning games leads to the postseason, a big source of supplemental revenue for the club and bonuses for the players. For the player, performing well solidifies your standing in the league, which ties directly to your next contract. Pineda, still making a relatively modest $528,000 and arbitration-eligible after the season, is now pitching for his first big contract at age 25.

Given that pine tar, Vaseline, emery boards and corked bats are all entrenched items of baseball’s history, you can’t really blame him for trying to get a better grip on the ball on a cold April night. But the brazen lack of discretion was puzzling. Pineda may have given the Yankees or other possible future employers a reason to pause about his makeup. Then again, they just might love his competitive spirit. If he’s cheating, he must really be trying. Just be a little smarter about it.

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